Erie 1 BOCES
Western New York Regional Information Center (WNYRIC)
Request For Proposal
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM )
Section I: Scope/Purpose
1. Definitions Page 2-3
2. Scope/Purpose Page 4
3. Requirements Page 4-5
4. General Evaluation Criteria page 5
Section II: Summary
Page 6Section III: Vendor Profile:
1. Corporate Overview Page 7 2. Financial Information Page 8 2. Employees and Support Personnel Page 9
3. User Groups Page 10
4. Installation Base Page 11 5. Support Information Page 12 6. Pricing Structure Page 13 7. Client References Page 14
Section IV: Functional Specifications
Page 15-16Please include these definitions in any contract language with regards to this
RFP.
1.
DEFINITIONS:
1.1.
“Available Date”
means, with respect to any particular Software,
Equipment, or Support Services, the date upon which the relevant Software or
Support Services are made available to Licensee pursuant to the terms of the relevant
Schedule, regardless of whether Licensee utilizes the Software, Equipment, or
Support Services and for Equipment, the date a valid Purchase Order is accepted by
vendor.
1.2.
“VENDOR”
means VENDOR Inc., located at
address here.
1.3.
“Confidential Information”
means any non-public information disclosed
by either Party to the other, related to the operations of either Party or a third party that
has been identified as confidential or that by the nature of the information or the
circumstances surrounding disclosure ought reasonably to be treated as confidential.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Confidential Information will be
deemed to include, without limitation, information about a Party’s business, vendors,
Licensees, end users, end users’ grades or other educational information, end users’
financial information, transaction data, Softwares, services, employees, finances, costs,
expenses, financial or competitive condition, policies, and practices, computer software
programs and programming tools and their respective design, architecture, modules,
interfaces, databases and database structures, non-literal elements, capabilities and
functionality, source code and object code, as well as research and development efforts,
marketing and distribution efforts, licensing, cross-licensing, marketing and distribution
practices, computer software programs and other information licensed or otherwise
disclosed to a Party in confidence by a third party, and any other non-public
information that does or may have economic value by reason of not being generally
known.
1.4.
“
Documentation
” means, with respect to any particular Software or
Equipment, any applicable standard end user specifications and/or operating
instructions provided by VENDOR for such Software and/or Equipment, which may
be amended from time to time. Documentation does not include any sales or
marketing materials.
1.5
“Effective Date”
means the date upon which both Parties have executed
this Agreement.
1.6
“Equipment”
means any hardware provided by VENDOR to Licensee
pursuant to any Schedule, including, without limitation, hardware related to the stored
value card sySTEM and security access sySTEM . Unless otherwise specified,
Equipment shall be provided to Licensee upon receipt and acceptance by VENDOR
of a valid Purchase Order.
1.7 “
Licensee
” means Erie 1 BOCES on behalf of the Western New York Regional
Information Center, or any other BOCES in the State of New York which accepts the
provisions of this agreement by formal action of its Board of Education.
1.8
“Licensee Content”
means any data, information, graphics or other media files
or other content, including, but not limited to, course materials, provided by or for
Licensee or any end user of the Software through use of the Software, excluding any
portion of the Software or Documentation. The licensed RIC will be the sole owner
or custodian of all content transmitted, received, or manipulated by the Software.
1.9 “
Party
” means either VENDOR or Licensee.
1.10
“Regional Information Centers & BOCES”
mean any of the following
Regional Information Centers: South Central, Mohawk, The Greater Southern Tier,
Onondaga-Cortland-Madison, Northeastern, Monroe 1, Wayne-Finger Lakes, Nassau,
Western New York, Eastern Suffolk, Lower Hudson, Dutchess, Monroe 2, Oneida
Herkimer Madison, St. Lawrence, Sullivan County, Washington Warren Essex
Hamilton, Western Suffolk. It is understood that these RICs and BOCES have
defined service areas within the State of New York and that said service areas include
one or more “BOCES” (“BOCES” is a NYS municipal corporation that by contract
pursuant to Education Law §1950 provides shared computer services and software to
school district components of the Regional Information Center (“RIC”) or BOCES
and in that capacity purchases various software for use by said districts as part of the
BOCES service). Each BOCES is an entity comprised of districts in the state of New
York. Only districts served by a BOCES may participate in this contract through
their RIC/BOCES. Licenses granted under this Agreement are at the RIC or BOCES
level only. Licenses hosted by an individual BOCES or district will not be eligible
for this contract unless and until they join a participating consortium for this service.
Licensed component districts means a school district component of a RIC/BOCES
that purchases the Instructional Technology service 6360.
1.11
“Services”
means any services provided by VENDOR to a Licensee
pursuant to any Schedule, including, without limitation, consulting, educational, ASP
installation and hosting, sySTEM administration, training or maintenance and
support services.
1.12
“
Site
” shall be defined as the specific classroom.
1.13
“
Software
” means the object code version of the VENDOR software as
described on the applicable Software Schedule(s).
SECTION I:
SCOPE/PURPOSE
It is the intention of Erie 1 BOCES to receive a proposal for STEM products to be offered as a service by the Western New York Regional Information Center (WNYRIC) for our regional school districts. This RFP will allow Erie 1 BOCES to negotiate a cross state contract for the New York State Contract Consortium BOCES members stated in 1.10.
Requirements
1. The proposals will be evaluated by using (but not limited to) the following criteria: unit and overall pricing, adherence to specifications, warranties and return policy, delivery lead times, known vendor performance history in the implementation, maintenance, and service level of same or similar proposal(s) current and past vendor financial status, and customer references. 2. Vendor must guarantee pricing for at least one year from “sign-on” date. Invoicing must be
based on the BOCES and School District fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30.
Vendors will also give pricing for the next fiscal year by November of the current contract year.
3. Vendor must outline discount structure for WNYRIC purchase of software licensing and maintenance.
4. Vendor must outline pricing for direct support to districts for purchase of software licenses and maintenance.
5. Vendor must include fee schedules for future enhancement requests and for custom reports or forms.
6. Four (4) copies of the response must be provided.
7. If awarded, the vendor will work with Erie 1 BOCES to negotiate a contract that will be renewed annually.
8. EXECUTORY CLAUSE - The contract shall be deemed executory only to the extent of monies appropriated and available for the purpose of the agreement, and no liability shall be incurred beyond the amount of such monies. The full faith and credit of BOCES is pledged to the payment of any amount due or to become due under this agreement. It is understood that neither this agreement nor any representation by any public employer or officer creates any legal or moral obligation to appropriate or make monies available for the purpose of the contact.
This agreement is further subject to annual cancellation by BOCES as the result of the withdrawal of a request for the service program, which makes use of the object of this lease. 9. CANCELLATION - BOCES shall have the right to terminate the agreement in the event of a
vendor’s failure to cure any default or breach of this agreement within (30) days written notice (subject to the Force Majeure provisions of lease #18 ).
10. FORCE MAJEURE - If the performance of the respective obligations of Vendor shall be prevented or interfered with by reason of an event of Force Majeure, then provider shall not be liable to BOCES for its failure to perform such obligations here under. A Force Majeure @ shall mean unusually severe weather, explosion, accident, an Act of God or public enemy, riot or civil disturbance, or order of any court of competent jurisdiction, not foreseeable,
preventable or within the control of the provider. In such event BOCES shall not be required to make any payment until provider is in compliance with this agreement.
General Evaluation Criteria
1. BOCES reserves the sole right to accept/reject or award to multiple vendors any and all proposals based on (but not limited to) the criteria as stated in paragraph 1 under the heading “REQUIREMENTS”.
2. Vendor must detail procedures for real time, direct telephone and email access to live technicians in vendor’s support center via a toll free number.
3. Items 8 through 10 of “Requirements” above must be part of any vendor contract.
4. The RIC contract example will be provided to the vendor(s) awarded the bid. Both parties will work together to execute a final contract.
5. Vendor must provide a New York State school client list for the products. List must include the year each installment implemented the software.
6. Vendor must complete all sections of the RFP. If they have no response for an item, vendor must enter N/R and an explanation of why they have no response.
Section II:
Summary
The Western New York Regional Information Center, WNYRIC, at Erie 1 BOCES provides instructional technology services to over 100 school districts Pre-K-12 in 7 counties around Western New York. This RFP will also be used for a statewide contract that allows BOCES and RICs that have joined the New York State Contract Consortium to utilize the contract.
• Please describe the STEM areas that the product serves.
• Please describe the appropriate grade levels and curriculum areas that the product serves. • Please describe the different instructional models the software has to offer and what group
size it is designed for.
• Please describe the software’s ability to track different levels of student performance. What
reporting features are present?
• Please describe the ways in which students are assessed (i.e. multiple choice, project based,
short response, etc.).
• Please describe how you have worked to ensure that the data can be extracted into the data warehouse at the BOCES.
• Are the products aligned to the New York State Standards and Common Core? • What are the technical requirements?
Section III:
Vendor Profile
Please provide answers to the following questions.
1. How many years has your company been in business?
2. How many years has your company been providing software for New York State school districts?
3. In what year was your product developed? 4. In what year did you first sell that product?
5. Did you develop the product yourself or did you purchase it from another company? 6. Are you a reseller for this product? Yes / No
7. In what city, state and country is the product developed? 8. From what city, state and country is the product supported?
Financial Information
9. Is the company privately or publicly owned?
10. Has the company filed for bankruptcy or reorganized due to financial hardship in the last 10 years? 11. Has the ownership changed during the last five years?
12. How long has the CEO been with the firm?
13. Please provide the last three years of financial history including annual reports. 14. What is your company’s credit rating?
15. Are you involved in any litigation?
• If yes, list each.
We reserve the right to request any additional financial data We deem helpful in evaluating your company
Vendor Profile
Employees and Support Personnel
16. How many employees do you have working on this product in the following areas?
Sales __________
Technical Support __________
Application Support __________
Training __________
Research & Development __________
Management __________
Clerical __________
Other __________
17. Please describe how you will provide implementation, training and on-going support of our application usage.
Vendor Profile
User Groups
18. Please list all established user groups that you sponsor and/or who may be affiliated with your product. Include address, phone number and contact person below.
Name of User Group____________________________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________________________________________ Telephone____________________________________________________________________________ Email________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person_______________________________________________________________________________ Date Formed_______________________________________________________________________________
Name of User Group____________________________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________________________________________ Telephone____________________________________________________________________________ Email_______________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person______________________________________________________________________________ Date Formed _________________________________________________________________________
19. Please describe how user groups are supported, funded and assisted by your company.
Vendor Profile
Installation Base:
21. What is the name and the current release (version number) of the product you propose? 22. How many New York State school districts use your STEM solution?
23. How many school districts throughout the country use your STEM solution? 24. How many BOCES in New York State use your STEM solution?
25. How may Regional Information Centers in New York State currently support your product?
• If any, please name them.
Analysis of Current Software Installations in New York State
# of students # of users # of years in sySTEM
Largest District Medium District Smallest District
26. Is the software on online resource that students have access to 24/7 or a client based software? Explain 27. Does any part of the software require a user interface other than an industry-standard browser?
• If yes, please list the additional software required and for what applications it is necessary.
28. Is any software required on the client to optimally use your software?
Vendor Profile
Support Information
29.Describe how support issues are reported, tracked and handled by your support staff. 30. How do you provide software fixes?
31. How will you provide software release information to the WNYRIC? 32. What is the frequency and timing of planned major releases?
33. Do you have a toll-free phone support hotline? Please list number. 34. Is there an extra charge for the support hotline?
35. What hours is your support line available?
36. What process do you use to prioritize future enhancements to the software? 37. Describe the support model you will use in working with the WNYRIC.
Vendor Profile
Pricing Structure
38. Please write a brief description of the pricing for your software. Include initial or annual fees,
renewals, additional charges for any extra features you may offer, and fees per student and/or per building.
*Please keep in mind that this pricing will aggregate across the state. Tier the pricing as such if at all possible.
• Describe discounts available to the Western New York Regional Information Center
39. List any additional charges that apply, estimate if necessary. Charges should be listed per application, per hour, per day, for example, and include an estimate for a total in each category.
Initial Charge, Year 1 charges On-going charge, maintenance Additional software components
not covered in the above Implementation planning
Other
The successful bidder must provide to the professional development for the BOCES Model Schools staff that will be turnkey trainers in this partnership at no cost. The successful bidder must allow the WNYRIC to provide the professional development surrounding the resource. You may include costs for staff development if districts wished to purchase additional staff development on their own.
Vendor Profile
Client References
40. Please list at least 5 and up to 10 school districts that have implemented your software system that we may contact. List as many in New York State as possible.
School Name: Address: Phone Contact: Title:
Section IV:
Functional Specifications
Software RequirementsThe successful bidder will provide a product that includes the components listed below. Items checked below must be currently operating in the software package based on the version number indicated in section entitled Installation Base. If they have no response for an item, vendor must enter N/R and an explanation of why they have no response.
Please check all that apply to your application. Bidders are required to list any exceptions to our requirements as indicated below. Please explain each of the items listed below.
_____ describe the STEM areas that the product serves
_____ describe how the product provides remediation and individualized instruction _____ please explain and provide the research behind your product
_____ provides flexibility for the accessibility of the software
_____ provides a computer or device based method of gathering data (give all examples) _____ provides extracts for data in a template format for loading into reporting systems _____Web-based product - support multiple browsers OR hosted product – please describe _____ allows easy import of student data
_____ measures to ensure security of data
_____ provides easy to read and customizable reports
_____ allows teachers and administrators to monitor, graph, or view student progress _____ allows access of historical data
_____ tracks historical data
_____ outputs all data to Access and/or Excel from the user interface
_____ Please describe the software’s ability to track different levels of student performance. _____ Please describe the ways in which students are assessed.
_____ The product is aligned to the New York State Teaching Standards and Common Core.
Vendor Requirements: This section may NOT be modified or changed in any way and must be included in your response.
_____The successful bidder must provide initial training free of charge to the WNYRIC and at 3 consortium locations around the state. These trainings can be face to face or virtual.
_____ The successful bidder must provide at least 1 annual training update per year free of charge to the WNYRIC and to 3 other consortium locations around the state. These trainings can be face to face or virtual.
_____The successful bidder must allow the registration of users through the WNYRIC. _____The successful bidder must allow the WNYRIC to manage user accounts.
_____ The successful bidder must allow the WNYRIC the end user support for the application. _____ The successful bidder must allow the WNYRIC to provide the initial professional development surrounding the resource at no cost.
